Aussies Online February: Return of the King

Posted at 11:50 2010-03-04

February was highlighted by a change at the top of the Australian rankings, as well as a rash of strong performances from some of the bigger names in Australian online poker. For a few of them it could not have come at a better time.

The big individual scores came from Jarrod “Jaggy42” Wilson, James “Andy_McLEOD” Obst and Hugh “Jackovich” Cohen. All these players earned around $58,000 in their respective high-earning tournaments for the month.

Wilson’s was the most high profile after he final-tabled the special 40 Billionth Hand $4 million guaranteed edition of the Sunday Million. In the end he would bow out seventh for $58,870. The South Australian’s score does nothing to disprove the theory that there is some kind of “run good juice” in the water in Adelaide. The South Australian capital continues to be a hot-bed for Australian online talent.

That result would eclipse Hugh Cohen’s high mark of $58,694 set earlier in the month, when he took out a win in the Titan Poker $250,000 Guaranteed. The Titan Major has been a happy hunting ground for Cohen earning two wins in the tournament since November for well over a combined $115,000.

James Obst rode his big score back to the top of the Australian rankings, reclaiming the number one spot for the first time since he has been of legal age. It’s been a tightly run race between Ben “CNT_Crusher” Delaney and Obst, but the South Australian has completed his ascent to the top of the Australian leaderboard and is now looking to climb towards the top of the World Rankings. Obst’s volume has seemingly increased in recent times, and it will be interesting to watch just how far he can take his run on the world leaderboard.

Obst’s February was headlined by a $56,694 win in the same Titan Poker major that Cohen had won just a few weeks earlier. It seems that the Aussies are getting plenty of love in that tournament of late.

Jonathan “xMONSTERxDONGx” Karamalikis gave his ranking rebuilding efforts a nice little boost, picking up $135,891 in the month. Karamalikis, a former Australian number one, has moved backed into fourth place, after slipping down the rankings in recent times.

Karamalikis’ biggest scores for the month included four five-figure results, the biggest of which was a win in the PokerStars $109 rebuy for $38,519. Wins in the $109 turbo single rebuy and add on, and the $40,000 guaranteed turbo, as well as a final table in the Sunday Second Chance, all on PokerStars, provided the platform for him to top all Aussie challengers in February.

Also over $100,000 on the month was Ben “CNT_Crusher” Delaney. Delaney ended the month with a $30,000 score for second place in the Titan Poker $250,000 guaranteed. Remarkably Delaney would have been the third Australian to win that weekly tournament in February. Unfortunately he fell one place short, but all up still managed $105,591 in the month. He would not be able to contain the challenge of James Obst though who has leap-frogged the Crusher for the top spot in the Aussie rankings.

Third in the Aussie rankings, and also third for the month was Brendon “BrendonR” Rubie who earned $97,113 during February. Rubie grabbed three five-figure scores, with a win in the $33,000 guaranteed single rebuy and add on Full Tilt Poker, and two victories in the $50,000 guaranteed on PokerStars to cap off a stellar month.

James Obst assumes the pole position in the Australian rankings to end the month. Ben Delaney has slipped to second. Brendon Rubie and Jonathan Karamalikis have both jumped Kennl, with those players third to fifth in the rankings respectively. Despite all the good results in February, only two Australians rank in the world top 100, with James Obst at 45th and Ben Delaney 69th in the world.

PokerNetwork is home to one of the most active poker forums online. With all the latest online poker news from both Australia and around the world, PokerNetwork is your home for the latest and greatest offers.